Down_the_Rabbit_Hole
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Posts posted by Down_the_Rabbit_Hole
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Have you read any of the books about a Charlotte Mason education?
http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Sake-Foundations-Education-School/dp/1433506955/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/When-Children-Love-Learn-Application/dp/1581342594/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b
Have you looked at some sites?
http://www.simplycharlottemason.com/
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It's the planning the weeks menu I hate more then grocery shopping. Trying to fix great meals everyone enjoys, variety, AND keep it in my budget. But I do hate the actual act of grocery shopping...add in kids or a husband or both and I am am ready to strike.
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So for the BJU would the student and teach textbooks be enough? For lower levels?? And then I could always just read sonlight books when I think they fill in, that is what we are doing w/ all of their books. I feel like the books they choose are wonderful, but the curriculum as a whole isn't working for us :(
The student book with the teacher manual is enough. You don't need the activity pages for the younger grades. Adding in SL books where appropriate is very doable. I have done it with the History for several grades and it adds a new dimension to the BJU curriculum. Doing it with science will give you a great year.
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Is she your oldest? Do you have youngers? I consider sotw 1 a much better fit for a first grader than ctg. If there were older siblings, it would be different, but for the oldest in a family, you can tailor more to her level, and between those two options, SOTW is likely to be more understandable to her. I do have to say that CTG is one of the mfw years I haven't done, but I have done 1st, Adv, ECC, and now RTR. I chose to skip CTG for multiple reasons. As it is, we ended up replacing the first third of the year's readings in RTR with just using SOTW. At her age, I would do ECC before CTG, if I had to choose one or the other. Even that one though, isn't ideal for her age. My second was an older first grader last year when we did ECC, and she did very little of what her older sister was doing in ECC.
She is my youngest and would be doing this alone (her brother is going into 9th). This is very helpful. Do you think doing more US history using MFW Adventures or doing more US history at all would be boring since we have touched on it this year?
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I have done both BJU and SL Science and like the BJU better. I found Sl to be too much little bites of science, then an experiment not related to the readings (in the younger sciences). My dd did not like the jumpy aspect of it. Also I felt it was more like reading a book then learning science and my kids did not take from it what was intended. It was easy and not challenging in any way and the experiments were to simplified. My ds did the SL science alongside the Apologia elementary science because he wanted something more at the time.
BJU is a textbook but not boring. Bright and colorful with enough info and discussion to get the lessons across. The workpages are just that, but not just fill in the blank. I actually had my kids create nice notebooks with the BJU Science, using the workpages as an added part to the notebook. The experiments are great and usually work. There is enough hands on to get a childs attention. If you use the teachers book, you will be given ideas for demonstrations that add even more. Also in the teachers book you get ideas on how to do the experiments using common household items if you don't have the beakers and other science supplies.
I do buy the SL science because the books are nice, but we use it as addition to our library. The books can be read at pleasure and the experiments done on their own (or with help) if motivated.
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bumping this up
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I had planned on dd (6) to begin the first year of the 4 yr cycle next year. Even though she is 6 we will have completed 1st grade and some 2nd grade work, so grade wise she is all over the map. We were going to use SOTW with activity book as main text and add in other things with it. Now I am hesitating. I have read a few things lately that makes me think I might save the SOTW and activities for when she begins this cycle again. I have been looking at MFW to use instead. The problem is we are doing US History this year and I don't really want to do that again, but we used BJU 1 so it was just a beginning intro to US History and some social studies. I like the MFW ECC but this would mess up my 4 yr cycle. Could I jump her into MFW Creation to the Greeks? Is this possible for a strong reader/writer to do? Or will it be too much info for her to process and not get much from the course? Or is SOTW great for this age and I should stick with my original plan?
Some thought on this would help me work it out. Ideas on this or if you think something else might be better, let me hear it. Thanks in advance.
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Thanks all. I think tonight we will have Salmon cakes.
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Thank you ladies! One more question. If I have 2 children doing the same grade level, do I need 2 sets of the manipulatives or can they share?
I would have them share. There are enough manipulative given for the two to use.
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Somehow I ended up with 3 cans of Salmon. What can I make with them? Anything for dinner or a lunch? Can I use them like I would use Tuna?
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LOL, my kids would have loved for me to dress up as the characters.
No, acting out the story is not needed. They do have a Digit the Clown and Cecilia cut out you can add a stick to to make stick puppets for your child to play with if they want.
When we did this course (last year), I would do the story or any review type work in the early morning. Then do the actual lesson a while later. I found my dd (who is not a fan of math) would get to much math at one time if we did it all at one sitting. Lots of mental math and reviewing before the lesson was given. Breaking it up into two segments was a big help and she was able to focus through both lessons. You don't have to do it like this or even use all the suggested review ideas. Bob Jones gives the days lesson with more then needed activities but this is a good thing. The activities cover alot of the same thing but you approach the problem from different ways or learning styles. If you get the student pack, it includes counters (with pictures of the character or theme) as well as other math manipulative if you dont have them.
Another thing we did with this course is do a side study of the job being tried by Digit. We looked at being a police officer, librarian , and so on.
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Have you looked at the Lego Architecture series? These are very detailed sets for the older ages.
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Thanks Julie, this was very helpful. All the information given by others was very helpful also, thank you all.
I have been on the fence about MFW. I have tried SL and WP, both had great books but I did not like the teacher info and usually just set the IG aside. I would hate to spend the money for MFW and wind up doing the same thing. I did notice the samples given are better then they were, they updated their site and this also is helpful.
Thanks all.
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Send me a PM with your address. I live in Virginia, we have beach sand if you need to look for organisms, but if not I have a huge sandpile in the backyard that the kids use like a sandbox. You don't need to pay me, I can't imagine it being more than a couple of dollars to send it, and figure it is part of my paying it forward.
Sent you a pm
Now I feel like Scarlett O'Hara in the scene from Gone With the Wind, where she is grabs a handful of soil, raises and says, "As God is my witness.....
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Can someone send me a cup of sand? Beach sand or river sand would be best, but any old sand will do (but not mud or sand full of organic matter). I need it for a few experiments and everytime I check Lowes they do not have it. Normally I would just find a sandy spot at a park or water's edge and scoop what I need, but every where around my house has 18'' or more of snow. I will be more then happy to send a few dollars paypal or check to cover the cost of shipping or even an unused ball of yarn in exchange.
Even if the sand is damp, I can use it. I can dry it out before we need it.
Please...
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From what little I'm seeing from the video on the SL site, they look similar. Maybe someone with SL experience will know better.
I used SL for several years and many cores. This is is why I am questioning the MFW guides. If they are similar to SL where they just give you a schedule when to read the books and a few activity/project ideas then I am not interested in MFW. I need more then a box a books and a schedule. So what makes MFW so great? I hear so much praise for this curriculum and I do like the books, but I would want more then a schedule and books. Is there more?
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We had an HP that gave us unimaginable trouble from day one. It was replaced with same brand and model by store and the new one was just as bad. We now have an Acer that cost 2/3 of the price of our HP and has not given us any problems in the year we had it. I will definitely look at an Acer over HP from now on.
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In the Teachers book are the schedules similar to the schedules SL uses. I know there might be some extra notes for a project or activity, but is that it? Or is there more I am not seeing from the samples
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I am going in circles trying to find a nice gift for my husband. Normally I give him candy or make him his favorite cookies. His birthday was the other day and he got those things then which I never give him because of the problem it would cause for Valentines day...I wasn't thinking this year. So now what do I get him? What are you giving your husband for Valentines that can be given at the same time you give your children their Valentines?
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4th grade is a great age for the Apologia books (I am asuming you mean the elementary books). These are not to overwhelming for this age but NOT babyfide or lacking in content. Your 7 yr old will be able to do them too with no problem. Depending on reading level, the 7 yr old can read them alone then discuss or you could read the portion and discuss. The books even walk you through narration and questions to make sure the child is getting the info needed. Each chapter gives you an activity and notebooking opportunities. The activities need very little supplies, most are in a home, but you can buy packs of supplies from Home Training Tools. The activities do not take alot of prep with the exception of a few (the light box made in Botany is the only big one I can think off off hand). There are notebooks you can buy to go with the Apologia books but Apologia also offers free down loadable notebook pages that are great for a 4th grader. My son(now in 8th) loved these books and has gone back to them to get info when doing other science classes. He says they were his best science classes ever.
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Thanks all. I had planned for my youngest (1st ) to begin a language next year so I am not exactly worried about her becoming fluent in a language although even with online sites to help her hear the language, I am not sure if that will be enough. But for my ds who will be just starting in 9th, his best option will be Latin so he does not have to learn to speak it fluently.
In all honesty, is it even possible to get a successful foreign language program in the home? I am beginning to feel that this is one subject homeschools cannot fully teach.
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So how can a child acquire the proficiency needed in a modern language? If they are not immersed in the language how can they fully learn it? I, nor my husband, speak a language other then our mother tongue. I can listen to my child recite his French, Spanish or whatever language they are learning, but unless I personally know the language beyond the teachers guide, how do I correct or converse? Sure they might know phrases and sentences learned, but to create and spontaneously converse in this new language....can two years really do this? What is expected from a 2 yr course in foreign language at the HS level?
I am not trying to argue the comments given, but truly want to know...how do I have my child achieve this? Money is an issue, so hiring a language tutor is not a possibility.
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I have used many SL cores (4/5, K. part of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 100 and 200) and have tried SL language for many of them only to quite the language a few weeks into it. But to focus on your question, I don't think you need the language to get what the core is trying to get across. In the early cores, the language focuses on grammar and some literary devices. What they pull from the core is a sentence from one of the books you are reading. That is all SL language uses from the younger cores...a sentence or two. No discussion on the book and the historical aspects of it. For the older cores and the language classes, you will be asked to write English type papers using one of the readers from the core, but I don't remember history being the bases for the writing. The cores teach history/social studies which is different from the SL Language curriculum. You do not need the Language to get the full benefit from a core.
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Can learning to read books in Latin be enough to cover the requirement in a foreign language? I am not talking children's books like Dr. Seuss, but more meatier pieces like Dickens.
My oldest took two years of French for HS using Rossetta Stone. Passed the tests but he cannot speak the language at all and does not remember much of the vocabulary. I remember trying to focus on his actual speaking skills and not learning the written language. Now several years later I am facing a new student and a new language, Latin. This weekend I spent time looking at different curriculums and the high prices on them due to the CDs and DVDs included with the programs. I got to thinking, when I was in HS, I took 3 yrs French and cannot speak the language beyond a few phrases. However, I learned to read French very well. By the end of HS I was able to read books and magazines in French and even today my knowledge of the french language helps me decipher words. Because I never heard French spoken outside the classroom, I never held onto the spoken language. But reading it, that kept it in my head. Can I have my son learn Latin this way? Learn to read it but not actually speak it. He will learn pronunciation and be required to say his vocabulary words and have a knowledge of what it sounds like. But to be required to actually speak the language beyond that...is it necessary for the credit?
BJU Science when to outline textbook and how to study questions
in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
Posted
You can start outlining now or even have him take notes. For his age I would have him write the section title and 2 or 3 things he learned in that section. Add in any diagrams he things are relevant or even have him create a diagram to explain something learned. This has helped my ds retain his science so much more. When we discuss the sections I tell him he can use his notes, usually he doesn't need them because he retained most of the material while focusing on what to write that was important.